Poly B Pinhole Leak? Here’s What Happens

Poly B Pinhole Leak? Here’s What Happens

It’s becoming more and more common that people are experiencing poly b pinhole leak in their home, this is usually the first telltale sign of future problems to come.

When you get a pinhole leak, it’s not always a drastic leak where you find water immediately pouring from the ceiling. It can be a very slow poly b pinhole leak that can take a couple hours to build up and penetrate the drywall ceiling. Water will usually build up in the ceiling and pool over drywall tape lines or pot lights in the ceilings until it is saturated enough to break through.

Usually, the first areas we find leaks start and occur, are on the hotline pipes in the house or commercial structure. The heat speeds up the molecules that make up the poly b, causing them to break down faster, start to sag and eventually break.

Poly b piping will start to leak due to the molecular bonds in the piping starting to decay. Over time the bonds start to shake apart, this separation is what causes the pinhole leaks to start. Once the polybutylene gets its first leak it is right to assume that the entire system is becoming compromised. In our experience at this point, clients will start to experiences poly b piping breaks every 3-9 months until eventually a catastrophic failure.

Upon finding a poly b pinhole leak in your property, you are left with ultimately 2 choices.

Poly b pinhole leak choice number one

The first choice is to call out an emergency plumber, they will assess the situation and most likely determine the course of action will be to remove the affected drywall/tile/flooring and then have them cut out the affected poly b line. Usually only a couple inches of pipe and change with new PEX piping. Or if you are very lucky the pipe that is leaking may be accessible without having to remove anything to get at. Either way, this service is typically around $300 + tax depending on the severity of the leak.

Additionally, you will need to repair the damages caused by removing the tile/drywall/flooring. For a typical couple square foot hole in either of these the repairs, the costs usually range from $200-$500 and will most likely take a couple visits.

All in all, if you go the repair route, you are looking at $300-$700, every time you get a poly b pinhole leak.

Poly b pinhole leak choice number two

This is an invasive process that will require a plumbing contractor that specializes in not only the plumbing aspect of the job, but also understands and excels in boarding drywall, texture and paint matching, tile repair and replacement, and may even need to dabble in electrical should appliances/ chandlers/ pot lights, have to be removed or replaced during the job.

At this stage choosing the right material to replace the faulty polybutylene piping should be a top priority. Most professional plumbing contractors in Canada are recommending the use of a high-quality class A PEX piping. This class of piping carries a high PSI rating, outstanding heat efficiency and will resist deterioration from UV light as seen in other levels of PEX piping. This product is also a frontrunner over the traditional copper tubing, due to the level of competency of the piping and its ease of install on an existing structure.

So after reviewing your options finding a competent company like Urban Piping Ltd. that is fully equipped to handle a quick fix with a tiny plumbing repair and patch of the drywall or the full remediation job and will have your house taken apart and put back together in about 7 business days.